1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system, and particularly to a printing system in which, based on order information, an image is printed on a recording medium and outputted.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, mini-laboratories (hereinafter referred to merely as “laboratories”), in which development of films photographed by a camera for a silver halide film is carried out, have been scattered in various regions. Each laboratory provides a printing service in which development of films and printing of photographs in response to a customer's order are combined. Further, a service of printing, in response to a customer's order, image data acquired by optically reading a developed film or a prepared photographic print using a scanner, or image data photographed by a digital camera or the like and electronically recorded is also provided.
Moreover, a printing service via a network has been also provided recently with the popularization of the Internet. Specifically, various types of services such as an order of prints of a photographic image, attachment of a photographic image to an electronic mail message, and download of a photographic image (image data) are provided by installing equipment, for example, a film scanner, a printer, and a computer including a large capacity disc system in a laboratory in order to allow a general user (a customer) to access the computer installed for a reception of an order via a network.
In the printing service via a network as described above, orders from customers can be received at all hours (for 24 hours). A laboratory is demanded to improve the operation rate of a printer to allow efficient printing, for example, the printing system is operated in an unmanned state in the night (unattended operation), and on the following day of the receipt of an order, printing is completed and a prepared print is delivered to a customer. However, the number of (types of) recording paper (roll) which can be loaded in the printer is limited (in an existing printer, a maximum of two (types of) recording rolls are set), and an operator is required to reset recording paper in the printer in response to an order. Therefore, at the time when information of an order, in which a type of recording paper different from that loaded in the printer is specified, needs to be processed, the unattended operation should have been interrupted.
Accordingly, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 11-305341 discloses a technique in which information of an order received, and image information of the order are stored in a printing device, and the information stored, during off hours of an operator or in the night, is read and printed, thereby allowing an unattended printing operation. A recording medium having a widthwise dimension which allows printing of maximum size is set in the printing device during an unattended operation.
Further, JP-A No. 2000-158766 discloses a technique in which two or more sets of an order counter and a printing device are installed, and when a printing device in the first set is inoperative, data is transferred to an order counter in the second set and a printing device in the second set is made to carry out printing.
However, JP-A No. 11-305341 has a problem in that, in order that a recording medium printed during an unattended operation may be cut into a proper size, the printing device is required to have the function of cutting the recording medium in transverse and longitudinal directions, thereby resulting in increase of manufacturing cost. When a conventional one-way cutting function is used for the purpose of preventing increase of cost, a cutting operation by an operator is required and is inefficient.
Further, in the technique disclosed in JP-A No. 2000-158766, a printing device for printing pictures is very expensive, and therefore, it is difficult to realize installation of two or more sets of order counter and printing device in each laboratory because of costs. Moreover, it is also considered that order counters and printing devices installed in respective laboratories are connected via a network, and a set of counter and printing device, which is installed in one laboratory, is used as the first set and a set of counter and printing device, which is installed in another laboratory, is used as the second set. In this case, however, it is necessary to collect prints made in the other laboratory, to which data is transferred. In this case as well, a problem arises in which the operation becomes inefficient.